Last autumn I succeeded to negotiate an English well know bowyer to sell me some Osage Orange billets for three bows. He himself is making real English longbows according to their heritage and bamboo is grassfiber for him (relates to glassfiber...) so I promised to make at least one with hickory back. After some thinking I decided to make one with bamboo back and two with hickory and make one of these to Take Down. All have Ipe stripe as core, water buffalo horn nocks and arrow plate, leather handle, dacron string with one loop and several coats of TruOil. Because of I made these together I also do present these together.
The bows in the pics from top to down:
Bamboo-Ipe-Osage: 71,3" ntn, 71lbs@26" ja 79lbs@28"
Hickory-Ipe-Osage: 72,0" ntn, 70lbs@26" ja 78lbs@28"
Hickory-Ipe-Osage TD: 72,6" ntn, 71lbs@26" ja 79lbs@28"
Speed test results with my standard POC target arrows, weight 529 gr (34,3 g) and draw length 27,7" measured to the back of the bows:
B-I-O: 161 fps (49,0 m/s)
H-I-O: 156 fps (47,6 m/s)
H-I-O TD: 161 fps (49,0 m/s)
As a comparison I shot the same time my Estonian made Falco Force Carbon LB (65lbs@28", 68" ntn, 179 fps = 54,5 m/s) and my previously fastest ELB stylish bow, tiny, slim and light Bamboo-Purpleheart-Cumaru-Bulletwood bow (68,4" ntn, 79lbs@28", 161,4 fps = 49,2 m/s). As you can see this tiny one is still just and just the fastest of my self made bows.
